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Christa Van Allen
Born of the Longhouse: The Iroquois Confederacy
Alone we are weak but together we are
unbreakable. Long before Europeans came to the North American continent, a group
of five tribes joined together as one confederacy. This Native American
coalition is exceedingly important to understanding the Iroquois Nation. Through
this topic I will explore the oral origin story of the Iroquois Confederacy, its
political realities, key players within its establishment and how the story
impacts Native American tradition even today.
To begin, I give full discretion. Saying
that this story is tricky to tell would be an understatement. Due to its
understandably oral nature, there is no single right version. Each one is
colored by the perspective of the person telling it in subtle ways, but like
their creation myths, there are enough common elements to put together a
coherent narrative. It is abundantly clear that this story has be supplied for
the sake of context, so I will do my best. The foundational Haudenosaunee, the
people of the longhouse, were allied by the Great Law of Peace sometime between
1000 and 1450 A.D. Rest assured that it was already formed and cemented with 117
articles guaranteeing the rights of the people and the responsibilities of their
leaders by the time foreigners set foot in what would one day be the United
States.
There were five tribes that all spoke
the same language. They were the Onondaga, the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Cayuga
and the Seneca. At the time, war and blood feuds were commonplace. For every one
death, another was demanded. That is, until the time of Hiawatha. Originally a
lesser Onondaga chief under the control of a war loving man named Tadodaho,
Hiawatha began to question the cost of battle. He sought to bring an end to war,
arguing for the embrace of peace between tribes, but Tadodaho would not hear of
it. So Hiawatha traveled east of their territory to speak to the Peacemaker, the
originator of this mission. He was the first to embrace peace and successfully
convert his Mohawk brethren to his cause.
While waiting outside the Peacemaker’s
village, Hiawatha strung together a series of polished beads into a pattern
known as wampum, which he later presented to the man when he came out to meet
him. Two lines of white beads surrounded a single line of purple. White was
peace and purple was war, Hiawatha explained to the Peacemaker that it was to
signify his hope of peace overcoming war. This is depicted as the first time
wampum was used to convey a message. The Peacemaker accepted his gift with
gladness and welcomed him into his longhouse.
Hiawatha told him of his attempts to get
the Onondaga on board with peace and form an alliance with the Mohawk, which
pleased the man immensely. However, the Peacemaker said that the Creator wished
for all people to live in peace and it need not be restricted to the two tribes.
Righteousness, health and power were the purview of every nation. After
discussing the topic at length, he and Hiawatha decided that simply uniting the
five Iroquois would be a good start. Going back to plead their case to Tadodaho
immediately would not work, they needed allies on their side. And so they sought
out the Seneca woman, Jigonsaseh.
Jigonsaseh was a clan mother, one of
eight older women who were highly respected within their tribe. Her longhouse
was situated at a crossroads frequently passed by warriors on their way to
battle. Anyone who sought refuge in her home was welcome regardless of tribal
affiliation so long as they behaved while under her roof. When one or more
warriors would arrive she would feed them from the same bowl as by tradition
that made them kin and forbade them from fighting. She had a reputation which
guaranteed that the other tribes would at least hear her out and she had
connections with a variety of other clan mothers that would happily carry her
words.
The Peacemaker and Hiawatha came to her
home and spoke of their united dream. They wanted to build a great longhouse
just like hers where the five tribes could come together as a council for the
betterment of the Haudenosaunee. Women like her would be the support structure
of this alliance, she was told, and they would hold the power to appoint and
remove council members. As keepers of the earth they could call for meetings and
review all law proposals made by the councils. She heard his words of Gaiwoh,
Skenon, and Gashadenshaa and agreed to be his envoy to the women’s councils of
the five tribes.
Hiawatha and Jigonsaseh traveled to the
lands of the Oneida first to deliver the message of peace. They were inclined to
listen but debated the matter for a year. Fear of war created an uncertainty in
peace, but after passionate pleas in the name of those already killed by
conflict the Oneida relented and the alliance of Mohawk and Oneida was formed.
Feeling more confident, Hiawatha returned to Tadodaho and sought again to
persuade him of their mission. And again Tadodaho refused to listen.
They departed in low spirits. The
Peacemaker encouraged Hiawatha to keep considering the problem and try to devise
some solution to bring Tadodaho around to the practice of peace. In the meantime
they went to the Cayuga, west of the Onondaga with their proposal. The Cayuga
had long been subject to Tadodaho’s temper and usually had no choice but to
follow his commands for fear of his army. An alliance with the Mohawk and Oneida
sounded like heaven in comparison. The chiefs and clan mothers all agreed to
peace. The Seneca were next on the list to visit.
The Seneca were powerful in war and
greater in number than most the other four nations combined and they had every
reason to reject the Peacemaker. Luckily, Jigonsaseh had long since reached out
to her family and friends back home. An end to the constant conflict sounded
fine for the majority, but the two western most tribes needed convincing. A
large alliance may help the people in the middle of the group, but being on the
fringe made them reluctant to do away with their weapons. A proto-council was
called to discuss.
The Seneca and the Mohawk were sat
together on one side of the longhouse fire and the Cayuga and Oneida sat on the
other. Mohawk and Seneca would hear issues first, if they approved of them, then
the Oneida and Cayuga could consider it. Hiawatha sat with the Mohawk having
been accepted into their tribe for a very long time now. He came to the
conclusion that the Seneca and Mohawk be given honors as the keepers of the
Western and Eastern Gates respectively. Using the longhouse as an example he
declared they should act as the guards to both the front and back doors, they
had the power to inspect foreigners first and call the five nations to action if
they were deemed a threat. Their first option should always be peace, but if
necessary war was waged on their order.
This decision settled the last two
Seneca chiefs and they agreed to peace. Finally, it was time to return to the
Onondaga. The council returned together and opened negotiations with Tadodaho
again. At first he was still unwilling to listen, he threatened war on them.
Hiawatha begged him to be calm and hear them out. He offered Tadodaho the seat
of honor, asked him to lead the council. This deal would grant to Onondaga more
seats in the council than any other nation, meetings would always be in Onondaga
territory, Tadodaho would have the last say in all decisions and his people
would be the keepers of the hearth, the sacred fire that was typically placed in
the center of a longhouse.
This intrigued Tadodaho, played on his
desire for power and he relished the idea of control. Jigonsaseh had suspected
this, she’d heard tell of the brutal ways he used to keep the lesser Onondaga
chiefs under his thumb and the cruelty with which he acted towards the women of
his house. And she did not trust him. Before Tadodaho could voice his approval,
Jigonsaseh stood up, marched over to stand in front of him and ordered him to
strike her on the spot.
Completely shocked, he denied her,
saying he could not strike a clan mother. Jigonsaseh challenged him on this. Why
now would he hesitate? Was that not how he intended to lead their people,
through fear and force? She demanded he change his warlike ways and household
cruelty. Tadodaho was shamed and pleaded for forgiveness. He swore that he had
seen the errors in his earlier thinking, that he realized the blindness with
which he coveted power. Jigonsaseh was moved to compassion and gave him mercy.
With a promise to lead well and honestly the Onondaga joined the Iroquois
nation.
The Peacemaker called together five of
the council representatives to the shores of Onondaga Lake. Here he requested an
arrow and was obliged. He held it before them and snapped it in half easily.
Next, he asked for five arrows, one from each member. These he rent and bent,
but could not beak. Thus, he illustrated the superiority of standing together.
Following this, he bade the men bury their weapons beneath a large, white pine
tree. An eagle landed at the top and the Peacemaker proclaimed that it would
keep watch of them while they worked and shriek if something dangerous
approached.
At
long last, peace was forged and now all that remained was the rules of the
council. 117 articles were developed, which are still used to govern the council
today. Hiawatha gave each council woman a string of wampum which signified her
authority of proposing laws and choosing a national council representative. All
laws were based on the Peacemaker's teachings, creating a system that served the
will of the people and was tested as to how they would affect the nations for
seven generations. Hiawatha commemorated each of these laws with a series of
wampum belts, most notably the Hiawatha Belt which symbolized the five nations
coming together in peace. To this day the names Hiawatha, Tadodaho and
Jigonsaseh are used as titles within the council honoring them for their
foundational work.
The Haudenosaunee lived in fortified,
agricultural villages and passed down inheritances from mother to daughter. A
mother and her children were part of an extended family called an Owachira. Two
of those made a clan and eight clans made up a tribe. Power was placed in the
hands of Clan mothers, older sensible women whom had the distinct responsibility
of selecting chief representatives. The
center of the culture was the hearth, both a literal fire pit within the homes
or longhouses of the people and a ceremonial stage for storytelling.
Historical evidence sees the uniting of
the Iroquois as a political alliance rather than one of strictly peace. The
League of Five Nations appears to have initially emerged to pacify the Iroquois
speaking tribes and unite them against neighboring Huron and Algonquin speakers.
This is poignant as the Seneca in the story often feared raids and attacks from
outside, though unnamed nations. Though it was hoped that the league would
develop to include and welcome into its fold many others, only the Tuscarora
accepted in 1722 after being forced into Iroquois territory by conflicts with
British colonists.
The League of Five Nations truly was
founded by Hiawatha, the Peacemaker, Jigonsaseh and Tadodaho. However, the
origins of these players tend to change from source to source. Understandable,
given that the story is very rarely told outside the Haudenosaunee culture and
complex oral traditions that take literal days to tell can be hard to get
perfectly right. The Peacemaker for instance is interchangeably either Huron or
Mohawk, Hiawatha is either Onondaga turned Mohawk or Mohawk from the start, and
Jigonsaseh is only addressed as confronting Tadodaho is some versions of the
story.
Hiawatha and his contributions to
history cannot be understated. He credited for inventing Wampum and carrying
with him an overall message of compassion for human suffering which made him an
appropriate partner in the Peacemaker’s goals to unite the Iroquois Confederacy.
Additional info from American Indian
Biographies stated that Hiawatha was Mohawk, and created with some guidance
from the Peacemaker a consolatory ceremony for ritual grief. He was the first
chief to believe in and promote the Peacemaker’s practice of diplomacy and
national council to the other tribes.
The Peacemaker is noted for bringing the
nations together, but has never had a successor. It was his belief that what
he’d done could not be repeated and even then his real name has been lost to
time. He has others besides Peacemaker, but their validity is debatable and most
versions of the story simply address him by his role. Both he and Hiawatha
believed that blood feuds were an avoidable cause of death between families and
were primarily concerned with ceasing this practice and appropriately grieving
for lost ones rather than engaging in revenge.
History remembers the original Tadodaho
as an excellent leader of the Haudenosaunee, hence the retaining of his name as
a title. If what we can gather of his depiction in the origin is accurate than
he appears to have kept his oath to act responsibly in the name of peace.
Jigonsaseh’s name is used as a catch all for clan mothers and especially great
council women. Her status is as legendary today as in the past.
In conclusion, the story of the founding
of the Haudenosaunee holds an integral place in the minds of its descendants.
Not only does the tale continue to be told despite the substantial stamina the
oral presentation requires, but the title characters continue to act on in the
new councils’ leaders. It stands to reason that this fascinating origin be
preserved to honor the first coalition and provide support in trying times.
Today’s League of Six Nations is a reflection of the carefully constructed law
system of the original longhouse people. They act with the best interests of the
land they care for and that of nations once upon a time held in conflict. A new
alliance of Native Americans has developed from the old as the Peacemaker always
hoped for. To truly understand a culture, you must study what they developed and
practiced. Doing so prevents misconceptions, and delivers the false scribes of
history to the judgement of modernity. This understanding is the first step to
proper unity within the United States.
Works Cited
Barrett, Carole A. American Indian History. Salem Press,
2003. Magill's Choice. EBSCOhost.
Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Greenwood
Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2000.
ProQuest Ebook Central.
Extra Credits. “Hiawatha - I: The Great Law of Peace -
Extra History.” YouTube, 6 May 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79RApCgwZFw
Extra Credits. “Hiawatha – II: Government for the People
- Extra History.” YouTube, 6 May 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPtUSKKzBcM
Grinde, Donald A., and Johansen, Bruce E.
Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and
the Evolution of Democracy.
1990. https://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp2.html
Markowitz, Harvey and Carole A. Barrett. American Indian
Biographies. vol. Rev. ed, Salem Press, 2005.
Magill's Choice. EBSCOhost.
Ojibwa. “The Tuscarora and the Iroquois League.”
Native American Netroots, 5 May 2018,
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/658
